I will be doing a series of articles that will be taking a methodical team by team approach to next year’s possible free agents. I will be starting with the team that has the least amount of salary cap space and ending with the team with the most. I will try to give a brief description of as many of the possible free agents as I can. I will also be looking for players that might be salary cap cuts in order for their teams to make room to sign some of these possible free agents. Any information anyone else can contribute on these players would be very much appreciated.
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The San Francisco 49ers will have a whole ton of money for 2017 NFL free agency. Head there to check out our breakdowns of all 31 other teams’ free agents and cap space.
The New York Jets are projected to be $953,250 OVER the cap (all salary info via Over The Cap) for 2017 but it is not like they have a lot of good players they need to re-sign. They currently have 49 players under contract for 2017, and the only “big name” they need to sign is Geno Smith. They used the fifth year option on Sheldon Richardson, so perhaps they give him a contract extension and free up some cap space and maybe they renegotiate a couple of other contracts? I am pretty sure they will not be trying to extend Ryan Fitzpatrick.
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick - $7,000,000
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 2016 salary cap is deceiving for the same reason he is not listed as a free agent. He received a $10,000,000 signing bonus in 2016 with $5,000,000 of it being prorated to 2017. He has no other salary listed for 2017. Ryan Fitzpatrick is 34 years old and was drafted by the Rams in the seventh round of the 2005 draft. I think it is more than safe to say that Ryan has not had a very good season.
QB Geno Smith – $1,597,146
Geno Smith is 26 years old and was originally drafted by the Jets in the second round of the 2013 draft. He is 6’3” and weighs 221 pound. He has completed 57.9 percent of his passes and has rushed for 647 yards for a 4.7 average per carry. After starting in 2013 and 2014, he has mainly been the backup for Ryan Fitzpatrick the past couple of years. I would personally rather have Geno as a backup than Blaine Gabbert. I think the Jets will try to keep him as a bridge to a rookie quarterback.
TE Kellen Davis – $680,000
Kellen Davis is 31 years old and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2008 draft. Davis really has not done much over his career. The guy only has 579 yards receiving in eight and a half years. I highly doubt that changes.
ILB Bruce Carter – $680,000
Bruce Carter is 28 years old and was drafted by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2011 draft. It appears that he had some decent years with Dallas before signing a four year, $17,000,000 contract with the Bucs in 2015 and becoming an immediate bust. He doesn’t seem terrible as far as backups go but we already have backups.
LT Ben Ijalana – $680,000
Ben Ijalana is 27 years old and was drafted by the Colts in the second round of the 2011 draft. Ben appears to be having a very poor year. Pro football focus has him rated as one of the worst offensive tackles in the NFL. He has been equally bad in both pass blocking and run blocking.
WR Jeremy Ross – $760,000
Jeremy Ross is 28 years old and was originally picked up by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He had 24 receptions for 314 yards in 2014 but, other than that, Jeremy has only 16 receptions in his other four years in the league. He has no receptions in 2016.
RB CJ Spiller – $402,353
CJ Spiller is 29 years old and was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 2010 draft. I would assume that with only 112 yards rushing in 2015 and only 13 yards rushing so far this season, he may be near the end of his career..
RG Brian Winter – $1,831,969
Brian Winters is 6’4” and weighs 320 pounds. He is 25 years old and was drafted out of Kent State by the Jets in the third round of the 2013 draft. He has been having the best year of his career. He seems to be doing a decent job both in run and pass blocking.
S Antonio Allen – $675,000
Antonio Allen is 28 years old and was drafted by the Jets in the seventh round of the 2012 draft. Antonio was waived by the Jets after tearing his Achilles tendon last year but was later put on injured reserve after clearing waivers. Houston signed him in March and cut him on September 3 and he was once again picked up by the Jets on September 6. He has had almost no playing time this year.
34OLB Josh Martin – $675,000
Josh Martin is 25 years old and was originally picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Chiefs in 2013. Josh has not played much during his career but he does have 12 tackles and ½ sack this year.
TE – Brandon Bostick – $600,000 RFA
Brandon Bostick is 27 years old and was originally picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Packiers in 2012. He is best known for being the player that botched the onside kick against the Seahawks in the 2015 NFC Championship game. Unfortunately, there is not much else to tell about him, a completely undistinguished four year career. He has 13 receptions for 150 yards.
34 DE Mike Catapano – $600,000
Mike Catapano is 26 years old and was drafted by the Chiefs in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. He has only had 2 tackles this year only 9 during his brief career. He is 6’3” and weighs 270 pounds. That sounds a bit small for a 34 defensive end. Could he be playing in the wrong position?
G Wesley Johnson - $600,000 RFA
Wesley Johnson is 25 years old and was drafted by the Steelers in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. He is 6’5” and 297 pounds and I cannot find much else about him. I couldn’t even find a Pro Football Focus rating for him.
CB Marcus Williams - $600,000 RFA
Marcus Williams is 25 years old and was originally picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Texans in 2014. Marcus Williams has 30 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 2 interceptions this year. He is the 50th highest rated cornerback by Pro Football Focus this year. He might be worth taking a look at as a backup if he is available. He seems like he might be an upgrade from Reaser.